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milovany

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Everything posted by milovany

  1. I've been a busy, successful Airbnb host for three years now. Our listing is a separate apartment attached to a house (not our house; we have long term renters on the other side). It's a completely private/separate space. Guests can choose to add on a second bedroom (or not) - either way it's a separate space. The second bedroom is a little bit larger, a real bedroom with a full-sized closet (whereas the sleeping space in the studio is an 8x8 or so room with no closet or anything; I do have some hooks with hangers on them in there if guests want to hang something up). I have no dresser anywhere in the entire apartment. If I did, because it's a separate/dedicated space, the drawers would be empty, or at least most of them would be. If I did use any, it would be for things related to the Airbnb endeavor. The stays I host vary from one night to ten days (I used to host longer stays, but now limit it to 10 days). I'd say most stays are 1-2 days, a few are 3-5 and occasionally it's more than that. Not unheard of; occasionally to the tune of one every couple or three months maybe. I have something like 260 reviews at this point. Not once, ever, in the three years I've been doing this has someone mentioned that they wished there had been a dresser. I don't think the question has even been asked. Maybe that has to do with the fact that most of my stays are shorter term (1 to 4 or 5 nights), but I don't know. It seems like if this were a thing, I would be asked about it more or that I would hear about it more in the reviews / private feedback. Just some information to throw into the mix. As for the gal asked to do laundry. Was this Airbnb? Was it included in their description? If so, yes, you should start the laundry. You agreed to it when you booked the space if it was described in the listing. If it wasn't, and they just asked you verbally to do it when you checked in, I still don't see it as that big of a deal and it's probably super helpful. I work almost full time besides my Airbnb endeavor (in addition to homeschooling three kids), and the laundry is sometimes what gets me in the end. It's so very constant. I ask people to wash dishes before they leave; I don't see much difference from that and starting a load of laundry. Just my opinion. ?
  2. I'm in the suck it up crowd for the reasons mentioned above (and especially the one that said "because their your children's family"). I'd ask that you consider rereading your paragraph about why you haven't made connections with these people in 15 years. You may have just left it out, but I didn't read much about you reaching out to them in attempt to find those possible connections. You even admitted they could be there, but neither you or they have made the effort to find them. I did read that occasionally someone will come up and talk to you, but not that you go and talk with others purposefully. I can see why there might not be any connections, but it's not too late to try and find them. We have a block party once a year in our neighborhood. Lots of people I don't know very well and have to make small talk with and yet we see each other at this event annually, so we chit chat and try to find a connection. Then the next year, we can connect again over that connection, be it ever so small. They seem to grow a little bit over time. In fact, we didn't have the block party this year for some reason and I find a little bit of regret over that. Maybe after some effort, there still wouldn't be significant connections. That's actually okay. But they are still your tribe, or at least part of it. All that's said of course not actually knowing the fullness of the situation.
  3. Oh, pick me! There was an ad on Instagram the other night that I clicked that talked about bras and bra fitting. I can't remember the name of it (sorry! I'll look and come back and edit if I find it), but it said people get fitted for bras solely by size, but in addition to that there are seven or eight (can't remember) different shapes of breasts to consider. Maybe that's something to look into. The bras were spendy ($70+) though. ETA - It was www.thirdlove.com
  4. The Great British Bakeoff (now known in the new season as The Great British Baking Show). It's British and enjoyable. Meets your criteria, yes? ?
  5. With some finance companies, you can ask them to get verbal permission from your husband to talk with you and they keep this on record so that from that time on, you can make the call yourself. Not all finance companies do this, though.
  6. I'm going to be in California that weekend (I think), but not for the conference. I hope you have a great time!
  7. "Well, since you did ask what my thoughts are, knowing my girls as I do, I don't think this is something they'd really enjoy although it's a super kind thought. They're just not that into jewelry and I don't see that changing, again knowing them as I do. Do you want some ideas for things that they would enjoy?"
  8. I know this was the case for me. I've been involved in two of what might be considered MLMs (I think of them as direct sales). One was the above mentioned Uppercase Living and the other was Blessed Hope Communications (back when people paid for long distance, this Christian-owned company sold long distance through reps who then earned a monthly commission on the long distance bills of "their" customers)). I learned so, so much through doing both of these things, maybe mostly BHC. I either just had a natural entrepreneurial bent going into all this, or because of BHC and a little bit because of UL, I developed one. I constantly think about different ways to start a business/make some extra cash now (in a good, creative way, not an obsessive way). To fulfill my entrepreneurial vacuum for now, I run an Airbnb -- gasp! is that considered MLM and not a real business? LOL -- and continue learning and growing through the experience. I know how to make a guest feel valued, to make their stay special, to communicate in appropriate ways to meet their needs, etc. It's been great! And all without owning a storefront business. In fact, I veer away from storefronts because of the myriads of regulations inherently involved. Thanks, Carol, for your posts.
  9. Ya know, they do work sometimes, too. I mean as a means to income. My sister sells caBI clothing very successfully and has for going on 10 years now. I don't get the vibe with her that y'all are describing in this thread. She's a smart, successful, happy, determined, active business woman. I also know another gal with some familiarity who is killing it with Rhodan and Fields. Maybe some people are turned off by their tactics, but obviously many aren't and many love the products and return to purchase them over and over again. Just let people do what they want to do -- they may make it. I sold Uppercase Living for awhile. I never made much money at it but really enjoyed the products, getting a discount, and meeting people. But it did get old and I realized my kids needed me more than I needed to put vinyl on people's walls. No bad feelings. I don't think I ever made people feel pressured either. I just said what I was doing and let people choose if they wanted to be contacted. Didn't matter to me one way or the other. I just hate the wide broad brush stroke. Not everyone hates them. Some see them as a legitimate business model, just without the official storefront on Main Street.
  10. I'm with this. If he's old enough to drive, he's old enough to have a conversation about this and make his own decision -- without mama's emotions (which I totally understand, by the way) setting the stage. My 16yo would be ticked if I made a decision like that on my own or with my sway. Let him call the shots, it's about him.
  11. Regarding it not being necessary to show a high school transcript if you have a bachelor's degree, I would go so far as to say you shouldn't have to verify high school if you've been admitted to college and are progressing through classes successfully there. That was our situation. For my daughter to get into a two year vet tech program at the local community college, she had to do some prerequisites, which she did in her senior year through the Running Start program (so, she was officially enrolled in college; the state university where she did RS accepted her as a homeschooled student, no problem). Through RS, she took some science classes and math -- the prereqs -- and got A's in it all. The official college stance is that she's a college student; nowhere on her transcript does it say she was in Running Start. That's probably how it works everywhere, but it's definitely how it works here. When she went to apply for the Vet Tech program at the local two year college, the director of the program indicated that it could be a problem that she didn't have a "real" homeschool diploma. She said the department and the school were fine with her documentation, it's the national Vet Tech association that has been known to fuss about the credentials of a homeschooled student. She indicated they may require her to get her GED before allowing her into the program. It was so annoying. We homeschooled legally, she graduated legally, her diploma is fully recognized by the state, etc. There's no way she should be required to get the GED. I contacted two main offices: One was the largest veterinary program at our second largest state university to ask if they accept homeschooled students without requiring a GED and she said absolutely (and in fact, they prefer that over the GED), and the second was the homeschool rep at the Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction and I asked her point blank, "Does the state of Washington recognize my homeschooled daughter as a high school graduate?" to which she replied "Yes." I sent these e-mails to the director of the Vet Tech program and she said she'll keep the packet of information, including those e-mails (and other information I sent her), and just play it by ear. I think the issue has passed because she's in the program now, is at the top of her class, and was one of two or three students in the program accepted for a paid internship at a nearby emergency vet. hospital. It worked out well in the end, but good grief -- homeschooling is so mainstream now. Know what the laws are if you're working with homeschooled students! On a related note, at one point, this same homeschool rep at the OSPI sent me an e-mail saying that to be graduate from high school, my kids need to follow the state public school curriculum. That was so wrong! In our homeschool law, there are 11 subjects listed that we have to cover. That's it. No four years of this, two years of that, number of credits total, etc. None. Of. That. I was flabbergasted when I received her reply because she's the official homeschool liaison in the capital of our state. Again, know what the laws are if you're working with homeschooled students -- and especially if you're going to represent them and be their voice with the state government. ETA: Should we move on to talking about trying to get a passport when your kids were home birthed now? Ugh. Very similar story for us -- "Uh, we filled out all the official paperwork and got the state-issued birth certificate for her when she was born 18 years ago; no, I don't have any hospital receipts from back then to prove she was born in the USA. But you have in your hands her state-issued birth certificate which has all the necessary requirements according to your own website."
  12. We went to Maine (from Washington state) last year and had a great time. On the drive from Boston up to our place south of Portland, we really enjoyed Portsmouth, NH. Then on we went from there, staying at this really awesome Airbnb 25 minutes south of Portland. We did some day trips from there, but not to the extent that it sounds like you want to do. The Kancamagus Highway drive in New Hampshire is really beautiful. We were too early for the fall colors, but found a covered bridge to enjoy for awhile. We did a little bit of the Freedom Trail back in Boston, and then ended with a Red Sox game at Wrigley Field, but the game was a yawner so sort of a downer.
  13. It was Uppercase Living (which I used to sell) or Simply Said and as far as I can tell, neither of them are still in business. Bummer, too. I had so many things in my design folder that I wanted to order at some point.
  14. I had a similar conundrum when my son married two years ago and I bought a satin "shrug" off Etsy. Worked perfectly. This is the one I ordered --> https://www.etsy.com/listing/231903608/dark-blue-satin-bolero-fully-lined-uk-4? Ugh, just saw the note that the wedding is this weekend. As for color, I'd do a neutral -- gray, dark khaki, maybe black, maybe white (what color are your shoes?).
  15. I started noticing gray strands nearly 20 years ago (I'm 52 now) and at first, I plucked them. Then I noticed that they were more noticeable when they grew back in so I stopped. About 10-15 years ago, I spent about a year coloring from a box every couple of months. It was easier than I thought it would be and I did like the results, but then I realized it was really something I didn't care that much about so I quit coloring. I'm probably 40% to 50% gray -- my guess, I don't know for sure. The rest of my hair is a medium brown; the gray is along the sides of my face and along the top to the crown. My mom has that beautiful white hair thing happening, but she was completely that color by my age from what I understand and so what's happening with me is different from how it went down with her. I get compliments occasionally but mostly it just what it is. I have noticed that my hair is thinning (saw your other thread on this) and that's more concerning to me. I tried to attach a picture, but couldn't figure out how in this new system.
  16. This is how I do cover letters (which I learned from a resume writer, I think): After a brief introduction and comments about why I'm interested in the job (1-2 paragraphs), I then transition with something like "According to the job posting for this position, the following are the qualifications. I would like to show how I meet each of these qualifications." Then I go to the job listing and copy the qualifications one by one. Under each one, I bullet how I meet that qualification. This usually takes me into the second page of a cover letter and I wrap it up quickly after that.
  17. Before researching Eastern Orthodoxy ten years ago, I did not know anything at all about Christianity coming into the Americas on the west side, from Russia via Alaska in the 17th and 18th centuries. All I'd ever heard when it came to Christians coming to the new world was about the Pilgrims coming from Europe to the East Coast. Such a rich history in Alaska and other places as noted in the link below. As a side, but related, note -- I went on a pilgrimage to Alaska two summers ago and visited oh, so many Christian sites there. The main reason we went was to attend the annual feast day for St. Herman of Alaska at a little church built where he'd lived on Spruce Island. I'd never heard of St. Herman before becoming Orthodox but wow, what a story and life. The whole trip was quite interesting! https://orthodoxwiki.org/Timeline_of_Orthodoxy_in_America
  18. We've sold by owner a couple of times. You can get a standard sales contract at an office supplies store, which both you and the buyer fill out and all sign. Then you take it to the title company while the buyers order an inspection and get their financing ducks in a row. The title company basically walked us through the process. You could also hire a real estate lawyer to do a lot of this for you -- and it will cost you a lot less than $24,000. We're in the same position as you right now -- we may be selling one of our rentals soon and we're in a hot market, too. We will totally try FSBO first.
  19. Good news! The new studies are showing that it's faaaar better to be active throughout the day as you describe than to have one strenuous time of Official Exercise a day. Both are fine of course, but if having to choose, it's better to be active throughout the day than to go for a run or do strength training.
  20. I admit, I've read some but not all of the comments. My numbers are similar to yours as well. I'm 53 years old and have had seven pregnancies. My youngest is 10 so no more for me. I'm 5'5" and on my way down from my high of 180, aiming for mid 130s or low 140s. I won't go through the details of the things I've tried / done, but the most success I had in the past was with Thin Within where you try and conquer emotional eating by waiting for physical hunger to eat and stopping before full (leather, rinse, repeat). I do believe in the principles of TW but it was so wearying to fight everything all day every day. I've also done the Master Cleanse and raw milk fasting to lose quite a bit of weight quickly, and those worked for me too, but didn't keep the weight off. So what is finally working for me, and a framework into which I can work on the TW principles without becoming overwhelmed, is intermittent fasting (IF), alternating times of eating with times of fasting. There are different ways to do IF; what I'm doing is eating for six hours a day and fasting for 18 (some people do 8 hours eating and 16 hours fasting; others alternate days). I've been doing this for three weeks now and am in love with it. It's definitely something I'm approaching as a lifestyle change and not solely as a way to lose weight (and once the excess weight is gone, I will switch to the 8:16 plan). It's not just that you're eating fewer calories that brings about the lost weight; there's also something scientific about not eating any food for an extended period of time. It causes your body to burn fat for fuel more often than when you're eating most of the day. Also, the health benefits of doing this regularly, from what I read, go far beyond weight loss. I'm not perfect at it, but it works for me because every day the amount of time I have to struggle with food is limited to six hours. It was the long stretch of 17-18 hours every day, day after day, that was doing me in. Once I started eating, I couldn't really stop or control. "I'll try again tomorrow" (or next week) was very common in my thought process. Now it's more "You can do this for six hours, that's all you have to do, hold out and do well for six hours!" Once it's 6:00 PM and until noon the next day, it's not a question for me. I just don't eat . If there's something that appeals to me, I can have it -- at noon. Right now, I'm telling myself I can have those donuts for my noon meal once per week. That way I get one sweet binge a week (better than 1-2 a day!). Once I do start eating each day, I seem to have more control and I'm not stuffing myself constantly during the six hours (because obviously that wouldn't work). I'm drinking a lot of water now, too. I have an 800 ml bottle that I fill and drink between getting up in the morning and noon, then again once I've eaten something at noon until I eat something again closer to 6:00pm, and one final time between that meal and bedtime. I'm also exercising three or so days a week, at 10 or 11 in the morning, so on a pretty empty stomach. I'm not weak or starving, but hungry. From what I've read, because my body has processed all the food from the day before, what I use for fuel during my walks at this time of day is fat instead of glucose. Over time, once I am more practiced in obeying the six hours, then I will work more on both waiting for hunger to eat (stopping when satisfied) as well as making better food choices more consistently. For now, this is working for me. When I weigh in on Friday morning, I expect that I'll have lost a couple of more pounds this week for a total of seven in three weeks. It's not a lot, but I press on. I keep telling myself that even if I only lose one pound each week, by next June I'll have lost 52 pounds. The 21 days that I have under my belt spur me on to keep going, too. I want my number of days to go higher and higher. Anyway, that's what is working for me. I did read that you're nursing; I would think you could do an eight hour eating window and still get your calories in.
  21. The thing that is really helping me, believe it or not, is intermittent fasting where I have a 6 hour eating window each day, with 18 hours of fasting (only water). In those six hours, I eat probably two meals, and they tend to be healthier ones. The reason this IF plan helps me with sugar is because when I have the freedom to eat all day long (no limits, like I have with IF), then I eat all day long and fighting sugar for 18 hours a day is exhausting! I usually lose the battle. With the 6:18 schedule that I'm doing, I only have to fight it for six hours a day. Between 6 PM and noon the next day, it's a non issue because I'm not eating then anyway. Now, I admit, for me, I haven't totally given up sugar but my consumption of it has lessened dramatically. You could add in a "no sugar" rule, too, and again, you'd only have to fight that for six hours a day, not the entire 16-18 that you're awake. I have personally given myself one day a week when I can have three donuts for breakfast, at noon. I love donuts, and that's my sugar for the week. Then I'm holding out again for the next week. This, too, is working pretty well for me. Sometimes I do mess up and have sugar elsewhere, but it's within those six hours and it's not on top of a meal, but part of or instead of a meal. I'm not stuffing myself like I used to. I'm really loving IF. By Friday I will have lost 5 pounds in the two weeks I've been doing this. I have about 30 or more to go, but because the health benefits go far beyond weight loss, I'm planning on making this a lifestyle. Once I'm down to my desired weight, I'll probably adjust to an 8 hour window of eating. Right now, it's 11:15am and I'm really hungry, but I can hold off for another 45 minutes so I don't break my 12-day success (and my body will continue getting its energy from the stored fat). At noon I'll have something filling and healthy and then won't eat again until I am hungry again, or 5:45 PM -- whichever comes first.
  22. I purchased TruSkin Naturals Vitamin C Serum based on that thread, and have been using it for about a week. I love how it feels. HTH!
  23. It's because we play "the alphabet game" a lot when traveling and this license plate would allow another kid who's playing in their vehicle the opportunity to win lickety split! It made me happy to think of a kid coming from behind for the sudden win! I could have just done TUVWXYZ but I did want them to work for it a little bit LOL.
  24. You can steal my idea. My kids wanted to give me vanity plates for Christmas one year, because I said for years I wanted plates with these letters, but then I balked at the annual renewal fee. VZXWUYT Or any combination of those letters. (Who knows why?)
  25. Bored Shorts' Kid Snippets videos. We, of all ages, love them here. It's kids talking through different scenarios and what -not, with adults lip syncing them.
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